


sounds better with harmonies

by thistidalwave



Category: Little Mix (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roller Derby, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-31
Updated: 2013-03-31
Packaged: 2017-12-07 03:09:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/743485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thistidalwave/pseuds/thistidalwave
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roller derby AU. </p><p> </p><p>  <i>Tryouts are rough. By the time they’re given a break from speed trials and conditioning exercises, Jade thinks her legs might actually snap in half. </i></p><p>  <i>“You’re good,” Jesy says. “Really good.”</i></p><p>  <i>Jade shrugs. “Could be better.”</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	sounds better with harmonies

**Author's Note:**

> written for [this prompt.](http://lyrics-soul.livejournal.com/11669.html?thread=1356693#t1356693)

Perrie is the first one Jade meets--she’s sitting in the corner of the changing room tightening the laces on her roller skates when a pair of black and pink skates enter her vision. She follows the legs attached to them up to the face of a stunning blonde. “Hiya. D’you have any lippy I could borrow?”

“Um,” Jade says, “yeah, sure.” She turns to rummage in her bag, biting at her lip. “Pink or red?” she asks, offering them both.

Perrie sits down on the bench next to Jade and takes the pink lipstick, applying it without bothering with a mirror. She smacks her lips together and says, “I’m Perrie or, as they call me on the track, Kiss My Sassfron. You?”

“Jade.”

“No derby name?”

Jade shrugs. “Can’t think of one.”

Perrie tuts. “My lipstick all right?” she asks, smiling bright, all her teeth showing.

“Perfect,” Jade says, taking the lipstick back when Perrie hands it to her.

-

“This is Jesy,” Perrie says. She only met Jesy about a minute before she met Jade, but she considers it her duty to introduce them anyway. “Jesy, this is Jade.”

Jesy has a lot of hair, Jade notes, and very dark eyes. Her smile is kind, though. 

“You can also call me June Nip Purr,” Jesy says, rolling the r and winking exaggeratedly. 

-

Tryouts are rough. By the time they’re given a break from speed trials and conditioning exercises, Jade thinks her legs might actually snap in half. 

“You’re good,” Jesy says. “Really good.”

Jade shrugs. “Could be better.”

Perrie snorts. “Only person that beat you out in speed trials is her.” She jerks her head in the direction of a girl standing by herself, stretching out her legs. She has hair nearly as big as Jesy’s and cheekbones to kill. Not that Jade has noticed anything much about her. She shrugs at Perrie. 

“We need to be friends with her,” Perrie decides and immediately skates over to make it happen.

-

Jade watches a small red head get clotheslined by a blocker in the mock jam before hers. She looks up from the floor with a bloody nose, and Jade desperately hopes she’s not about to join her.

-

Killer Cheekbones is actually named Leigh-Anne, or Spear Mint, and she, along with Jesy, Perrie, and Jade, makes it onto the team. 

“Looks like you’re going to have to think of a derby name,” Perrie says, lightly hip checking Jade. 

“Uh huh,” Jade says. She’s mostly trying not to freak out about how she’s on a real roller derby team now, and also not let her jelly legs get the best of her and actually fall over.

-

Perrie insists they all go out for drinks to celebrate, and Jade discovers that for all Leigh-Anne is a intimidating long legs and big hair, she’s really great for a laugh.

“So, like,” Leigh-Anne says, “we all have spices in our names, so I think you should too.”

Jesy and Perrie nod along with her. “Fresh meat gotta stick together,” Jesy says. She pauses to take a sip of her drink before adding, “Y’look a bit like cinnamon.”

“Oooh, cinnamon, yes!” Perrie says enthusiastically. “Cinnamon Fiyah!” She throws a jazz hand up in front of her face and twinkles her fingers down. Jade giggles. 

“Cinnamon Sparkle,” Jesy says, eyes bright, and Leigh-Anne shakes her head.

“Gotta be badass,” she says, scrutinising Jade’s face. Jade shifts uncomfortably under her stare but looks back steadily. “What about Blood and Cinnamon?”

“Like Blood and Chocolate,” Jade says, and Leigh-Anne nods. “I like it.”

Perrie cheers, and Jesy orders them a round of shots. 

“To the newest members of the Little Mix Derby Girls,” Leigh-Anne toasts.

The shot burns on its way down Jade’s throat, but it’s the kind of burn that spreads warmth everywhere.

-

Practice is Tuesdays and Thursdays, with optional off-skate conditioning hours on Wednesdays, and Jade thinks that’s all she’ll see of the girls, that the drinks were just a one off thing. 

She’s proven wrong promptly when somehow all three of them are contacts in her phone and Perrie starts up a group text that mostly consists of them complaining about how much they hurt and sending pictures of their bruises to each other. They’re the youngest members of the team, still in uni and closer in age than everyone else, so while they definitely do make friends with everyone else, they end up tending to stick together. 

Perrie invites Jade out for coffee one day and flicks sugar packets across the table at her, asking questions about what she’s studying in uni and answering in turn before they both decide to go bother Leigh-Anne at her job at Pizza Hut. 

Somehow Jesy becomes Jade’s study partner, showing up at the library whenever Jade texts that she’s there and sitting next to her quietly. Jade’s never been big on studying with other people, but it’s kind of nice to just sit with someone you know is going through the same kind of thing you are. 

It’s when they’re all piled on the sofa at Leigh-Anne’s flat watching some inane romcom that Jade realises that she’s actually found the kind of people she can call best friends. It’s, well. It’s really nice.

-

Their first actual bout sneaks up on Jade. It seems like one day Coach Tulisa is assuring them they have a good few weeks to work on their strategy and skills and the next she’s yelling at them that they’re skating _tomorrow_ , ladies, step it up. 

Jade almost skates into the boards, but Perrie pulls her around the curve just in time.

-

“You’re up,” Tulisa says, handing Leigh-Anne the helmet cover emblazoned with a star.

Leigh-Anne blinks at it. “What? But--”

“No buts,” Tulisa says. “You be my star, speedy.”

Leigh-Anne looks like she might be sick. Jade squeezes her arm encouragingly. 

-

They win, in part because Spear Mint is a badass and fucking kills the jams where she skates as jammer. 

“Knew you could do it,” Perrie murmurs into Leigh-Anne’s neck in the changing room, hugging her from behind and smacking a kiss to her cheek before pulling away. Leigh-Anne beams.

-

They keep winning, too. Jade feels like she could skate on clouds. 

-

Jade doesn’t actually notice anything amiss until the third time Jesy doesn’t show up at the library. She tries calling her and doesn’t get an answer, then texts Perrie, who says she’s not heard from Jesy since practice either.

Jade makes the executive decision to go over to Jesy’s flat. 

“Thought you were pizza,” Jesy says when she opens the door.

“Nope,” Jade says. “Is there pizza coming? Can I have some?”

Jesy shrugs and lets the door fall open farther, an invitation for Jade to come in and make herself comfortable at the kitchen table. “Where’ve you been?” Jade asks quietly, and Jesy sighs.

-

Jesy doesn’t think roller derby is for her anymore. Jade, who has seen Jesy take out crucial members of the pack so that their jammer can get through, staunchly disagrees. 

“You love skating,” Jade says. “You drag me to conditioning all the time. Wanna tell me what the actual problem is?”

The problem is that people are assholes. Jade flies into a righteous rage and mutters under her breath about how the league is meant to be a safe place and people should be taken out back and shot, and she doesn’t stop until she sees Jesy’s face and drags her to the sofa for a proper cuddle.

-

Jade talks to Tulisa, who talks to other league officials. 

People don’t bug Jesy after that, and if they do, Jesy knows just how to hit them on the track so that it’s clean _and_ they know she means it. 

Sometimes, Jade thinks, people just need to know that they have back up.

-

“That’s Kiss My _Sass_ fron to you!” Perrie yells at the other team’s bench, flipping the edge of her skirt up at them. One of the older ladies on the team rolls her eyes and laughs at the same time--they’ve just qualified for the semi-finals and the entire team is buzzing. 

“You’ve ruined your tights,” Leigh-Anne says, pointing out the gash from just under Perrie’s knee up to mid-thigh. 

Perrie shrugs. “They’re probably all right, don’t you think? Show a little skin?” She poses with her leg on display, pouting.

“Sexy,” Jesy says, snapping Perrie in the arse with a towel. Perrie yelps and swats at Jesy, and Jade dissolves in hysterical laughter.

-

“I feel like I’m going mad,” Leigh-Anne says. 

“Has anyone seen my eyeliner?” Perrie asks. 

“Mad how?” Jesy asks, peering into the mirror and tucking a piece of her hair back into her low ponytail.

“There’s just so much happening,” Leigh-Anne says. “I don’t know.”

“No, really. Eyeliner?”

“Everything happens so _much_ ,” Jade says dramatically, skating backward past Leigh-Anne and executing a 180 degree jump around to skate backward the other way, stopping in front of her and waggling her eyebrows suggestively as she offers Leigh-Anne a hand. Leigh-Anne laughs and takes it, standing up and reaching to adjust Jade’s trademark bowtie for her.

“Let me use your eyeliner,” Perrie demands, snatching Jesy’s eyeliner out of her hand and pushing her away from the mirror. 

-

They only narrowly win that bout. It’s coming down to crunch time.

-

Leigh-Anne joins Jade and Jesy on their study dates, sitting across the table and furrowing her eyebrows at her laptop. Perrie keeps showing up late with coffee for all of them and sits next to Leigh-Anne, poking at her shoulder. Leigh-Anne ignores her except to periodically bat at her hand like that will make her stop.

-

Tensions are running high in the changing room. They’re meant to be getting ready to hit the track for the final bout, the one that determines the league champion, and Jade thinks she just saw someone actually try to hide in their locker. 

Thankfully, races at the side of the track do wonders for morale. Perrie should probably be lauded as a genius. 

And then Perrie jumps on Jade’s back just as she’s reached the designated finish line and sends them both careening into the wall, and, well. Jade still thinks she’s a genius.

-

Perrie slams into an opposing blocker just before the end of the first period and they both hit the track hard. Perrie wipes the blood off her lip and ignores the way her ankle is already starting to swell by engaging in a heated argument with one of the refs about the awarding of points to the other team. 

-

Tulisa gets Perrie ice and won’t let her skate again no matter how much she pouts.

-

Only ten minutes until the end of the bout, and the score is scarily close. Leigh-Anne’s hair is starting to frizz out from under her helmet and she looks exhausted even as she takes the role of jammer with a smile.

“You all right?” Jade asks, checking her own striped helmet cover to make sure it won’t come off.

Leigh-Anne winks at her.

-

It’s not until the final jam that Leigh-Anne gets trapped between an opposing blockers and the boards, but Jade is right there to grab the starred helmet cover and skate ahead of the pack, circling around to pass the lead jammer and leap over two fallen blockers before she spots Jesy’s outstretched arm. Jesy looks back, eyes a question, and Jade nods.

The announcer is yelling something about June Nip Purr and Blood and Cinnamon going for the whip, but Jade’s entire world narrows down to her firm grasp on Jesy’s hand and the air whooshing past her ears, and then she’s flying around the track. She vaguely registers Leigh-Anne taking out the other jammer and the referee calling points, and then the whistles blows.

-

And, well. They’ve won. 

-

Jade stares up at the scoreboard, still gliding forward until she’s stopped by Jesy throwing her arms around her, and then Perrie and Leigh-Anne are joining in the hug, and the rest of their team crowds around them, screaming and grinning, and Jade lets herself fall into it, thinks that trying out for roller derby is definitely the best choice she’s made in years. 

-

(“Can I borrow your lippy?” Perrie asks, and Jade hands her the pink one before she’s even done talking.

“Maybe you should keep that,” Leigh-Anne suggests.

Perrie shakes her head. “It’s not the same if it's not Jade’s.”

Jesy snorts. “Do you own anything yourself?”

“Sure,” Perrie says. “You three are mine.”

They all roll their eyes, but no one contradicts her.)

-


End file.
